Posted June 8, 2008

 June 2008 

Hidden Lake Property Owners: 

Congratulations to Hidden Lake property owners who worked on thinning and cleaning up your properties this past year.  Your efforts enabled us to renew our certification as a Firewise Community for 2007.  As you may recall, we are members of the Colfax County Coalition of Firewise Communities (CCCFC) that includes Taos Pines Ranch, Ute Park Valley, Elk Ridge, Santa Fe Trail Ranch of Southern Colorado, and Vermejo Park Ranch.  The requirements to become certified as a Firewise Community are:

• Create a Firewise Board that meets regularly.  Members of each community, in addition to NM Forestry officials and the Fire Chief of Ute Park, regularly attend the meetings.  At the meetings we discuss activities each community is doing to make themselves more Firewise.
• Invest as least $2.00 per capita in Firewise projects.  We easily beat that investing a reported $134,957 last year, up to the time of your submitting your last report.  This includes not only cash expended, but funds assigned to your personal labor considered as in-kind funding.  
• Create a Firewise plan.  This was completed in February 2006 and is currently under review.  A copy was sent to all property owners.  If there are any new owners who have not received a plan please let me know.  I will have copies at our next annual meeting.  
• Hold a Firewise day.  Our Firewise day is held in conjunction with our annual meetings as that is when the majority of property owners are available.  Last year, we attempted to have several chipper days to assist in cleaning up slash and dead and downed material.  Due to lack of support of individuals in the Moreno Valley Fire Department, this effort was aborted.

I will need to renew our firewise certification this year and will need data on efforts in thinning and clean up done since last years report.  I have attached a spreadsheet that I request you complete and send to me as soon as you wind up your seasonal visit or no later than 01 November 2008.  If you submitted a report last year, include only new work done since that report was submitted.  If you did not submit a report last year, please include an estimate of all work you accomplished in 2008.  I realize few keep a daily log of work done so just provide your best estimate.  The spread sheet offers you the opportunity to keep a daily log.  If you used a contractor provide the funds paid. 

This past year was the best of times and the worst of times.   On average it was a good summer for wildfires in our area.  Although we were concerned when the tall grass that grew as a result of the copious moisture we received cured out in the fall.   This year so far has been dry and windy.  There have been numerous fires in the state.  One fire southeast of Albuquerque burned 59 homes.  We did have a good snow year with 126 inches total.  I report the weekly precipitation to Guy Pierce and other property owners who request to be included.  He posts the information on www.hiddenlakepoa.org.  We need to continue to plan for the BIG one by continuing to work at eliminating deadfall and ladder fuel and reducing timber density.      

                                                                        Joe Stehling

                                                                        Hidden Lake POA Board Member

                                                                        President, CCCFC

                                                                        575-377-0546

                                                                        HC 70 Box 109

                                                                        Ocate NM 87734